Summer Hoops Final Season Blog

Summer Hoops recap and how to improve your game for the regular season:

As we wrap up Summer Hoops season, I would like to recap some of the highlights of the season. I would also like to go in-depth into some of the improvements we can discuss in regards to structured offence, defence, and offensive/defensive awareness.

First, lets go into teamwork and the unity of Night hoops:

Everyone in the program played to compete but showed amazing respect for one another.

Week in week out we saw some amazing humility and competitive drive from all the players. What I took away was when the opposing teams falling and being helped up. Knowing that we are all under the same program trying to develop our skills, grow together, and build a healthy relationship. But also, when the games were close to be extra competitive and go hard at each other. There was a healthy balance of respect and competitiveness that proves Night Hoops develops respectful ballers humble to the game.

Teamwork was top notch and there was very little selfishness.

It was remarkable how much teamwork we witnessed in Summer Hoops. It was very rare to see any selfish basketball as there was many moments of great ball movement. It shows that todays generation of basketball is studying clean basketball and are not falling into the trend of shooting only three pointers without passing.

So what ways can the Night Hoops / Summer Hoops players do to improve their game?

Let’s start off with awareness on the court!

One improvement that can help any young player growing into their game is to focus on the awareness of where the defenders are on the court. Let’s look at a specific example and break it down. During a defensive rebound, the rebounder either being a guard able to bring the ball up or a big man passing it to the guard to bring up to set up the play, the player who is bringing the ball up should have their heads up and analyze the court before making the decision to run up. To run up the court without even thinking where to go what to do will lead you into traps and being caught in corners of the court where it leads to turnovers.

RUN MIDDLE!!!

During this time of development in your young ages. I highly suggest running down the middle of the court to avoid getting suck in corners. Another strong point when bringing up the ball is to not be scared when the defender pressures you to make it a dead ball. Break through that defensive pressure with a hesitation or direction shift to confuse the defender. Once you have established control and are able to pass with purpose and not when you are stuck, you will see drastic improvements on the out come of that one offensive sequence.

Moving without the ball.

It can be a bad habit to watch the person with the ball while they sometimes try and take over the basketball game. The problem with that is that when everyone watches the one player do all the work, the rest of the team just end up usually standing around the 3-point line watching. Try and make it a conscious effort to try and cut and move with purpose. Never cut towards the basketball and have the person with the ball get double teamed. Try and open up by either coming off an off-ball screen to a shot or cutting to the hoop for either a rebound or a pass that leads to your layup. This also depends on the awareness of the person with the basketball.

Communication is key.

Make sure to speak to one another on the court. There are many reasons why that can help the game. One is that your teammates will know why you are doing a move or movement. It also ups the intensity of your team when they hear your intensity and everyone else communicating to it. Some worry that when they communicate it can come off as rude or start controversy. But that is usually because of the unfamiliarity of the process. As time goes on it will become the norm and what happens on the court does not depict what happens off the court. It can sometimes get strategic and loud on the court but always remember that there will always be mutual respect off the court.

In Conclusion.

Summer Hoops as usual was a hit. We couldn’t be prouder of every individual that was partaking in every weekend basketball games. We see the growth every day, every week, every year and we are just so proud of every one of you. Let is keep growing Night Hoops to be help all ballers unite and grow together. we love to invite other municipality who would like to implement the program for their youth. Amazing job ballers keep up the good work!

About the Author

I am a marketing digital designer and front-end web developer. My deepest passion is fitness and health. I hope to educate more people about the benefits of a healthy nutritional diet and physical activities.